"I kept having the Shawshank Redemption poppin in my head" - Anthony Smith admits to self-pity getting the better of him during Ryan Spann fight

Anthony Smith defeated Ryan Spann in the co-main event of UFC Singapore last week, winning by split decision.

Smith triumphed over 'Superman' in a hard-fought rematch despite a challenging eye injury sustained in the second round. The first round was dominated by Smith, who controlled the fight with leg kicks and ground positioning.

Spann's left hook to Smith's eye caused damage in the second round, but the former UFC light heavyweight title challenger recovered and regained control. The third round saw both fighters struggling, but the judges awarded 'Lionheart' the win with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29.

During a recent episode of BELIEVE YOU ME with former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, Anthony Smith confessed that he allowed self-pity to affect his performance in the fight against Ryan Spann:

"I was kind of stuck and there was a lot of self talk going on in that moment. I don't know if most fighters would be honest here but there was a lot of self-pity like, 'you gotta be sh*ttin me'."

He added:

"And then you don't even get rocked, you just get like punched in the eye hole and I was just kind of feeling sorry for myself for a minute and I kept having the 'Shawshank Redemption' pop into my head. While I was down there like 'get busy living or get busy dying'."

Check out Anthony Smith's comments below (from 4:45):

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Alex Pereira issues an interesting challenge to Anthony Smith amid continuing feud

Alex Pereira and Anthony Smith engaged in a war of words over the past week, with Smith previously asserting that 'Poatan' has lost his intimidating edge since moving up from middleweight.

The former UFC middleweight champion playfully taunted 'Lionheart' by appearing to suggest a challenge for a Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappling match.

Pereira recently shared a photoshopped image on X (formerly Twitter), where he replaced himself in a promotional picture of Smith's recent grappling bout against Glover Teixeira, captioned:

"Date: Whenever he has courage"

Check out the post below: